Direction-indicating signal for automobiles.



F. N. MOORE.

nmiclon INDICATING- SIGNAL ron AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION HLED APR. I4. 19|?.

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l .application medi .april la, 1917. eerial No. item3.

To all whom it may concern.' I

Be it known that l, Finora N. Moore, a citizen of .the United States, and a resident of Peoria, in the county of Peoria and Statey of Illinois, havein'vented certain new and. useful Improvements in Direction-indicating Signals for Automobiles, of which the.`

following" is a specification.

. One o the principal objects of my inven tion is to provide an improved signal for use upon an automobile or allied Vehicle, whereby to indicate to approaching or following pedestrians and 'Vehicle drivers any intended maneuvers on the parts of the ycf hicle carrying the signal, the signal termine" the subject of my. invention being designee. particulariy with reference to eliciency in operation, simplicity in design and construction, and economy in manufacture and inaintenance. Another object ot the invention contemplates the provision of a signal of the type in which an arrow is used for indicating thef direction of a turn to he made, the construction being such that the head and tail of the arrow, which are formed oit' equilateral triangular plates, may he moved at will in unison to attain positions for reversing' the directions in which the arrow points.

"ii/'ith these' and othery objects in View which will become apparent as the description proceeds, theinvention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts' hereafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanyn ing drawings in which like characters of reference indicate like parte throughout the several figures, of which#- Figure l represents a view partially inI section taken horizontally of the signal con structed in accordance with my invention, the main portion of the view' losingn a top plan or' the signal.

Fig. 2 represents an elevationalyiew oir' the signal, parte being hrolr'en away to dism close the` ocnstructionand arrangement ci parts. l

. Fig. 3 represents a view in end elevation, partially in section, showing the internal structure of the signal.

Fig. t represents a View in perspective oit the plate forming the arrow and associated parte, the View showing the method of operating,n the triangular head `and tail plates o t the arrow.

-l|`igu 5 represents a diagrammatical plan View of the wiring` system of the signal..

Fig. 6 represents' an elevational View of the signal as it would appear in the." day time, and Y Fig. represents au elevational View of the signalras it Awould appear at night;

titl' Referring incre particularly to thegdrawings, the easing in which the signal is mounted is indicated generally at ,5, and this casing at what may be termed the front :tace of the signal is provided with an opening at 6 over which a pane of' clear glass 'i' is mounted. 'Mounted within the casing in parallel and spaced relation with the pane oi' glass 7, is a red ground glass` plate 8 between which plate and plate i a compartment 9 isdeiined in which thearrow plate l() is arranged. rilhe ground/side ot' the red glass 8 is directed toward the rear wall o" the casing, and on this rear wall are mounted the lamps li, which when lighted 'project-their rays' through "the red glass and show the arrow in silhouette relief, yat night, as indicated in Fig. `7..

The arrow plate l@ is arranged in a horizontal. position, and is formed integrally with aan upright lla which at its lower portion is leent at right angles asf/at l2, and secured transversely to the central. portion of a base plate 13, the extremity la of the plate lla beingl bent upwardly into parallel relation with the main portion of the upright, forming therewith a journal on which a shaft l5 is rotatably mounted. The base plate 13 is secured to the bottom oi the casing in a suitable manner, and the endsof vthe plate are heut u wardiy at right angles as at 16, and are adapted to support the cores of the electro/magnets 17, which serve to operate the signal. Secured to the shaft l5' and depending therefrom, is a rue-- tallic plate l@ serving as an armature upon A titi which the magnets act, and this .plate de .i titl its te springs 24 at the inner ends of the latter.

rlhe outer ends of the coil springs are connected each with one of the upright end por# tions 16 of the base plate 13, and these springs operate to normally hold the lever in the neutral position indicated at Fig. 4. After the armature 18' hasbeen released by either of the electro-magnets 17, such armature having been attracted by the magnet tor operating the triangular plates 22, the 20 springs will move the lever into its neutral position and hold it until it is again actuated Yunder the influence of one of the magnets. The outer ends of the reach rod 21 are connected with the plates 22 above their centers 25 so that as the lever is moved in one direc tion or another, the triangular plates will be operated in synchronism to-assume positions nrepresenting an arrow pointing in one direction or the other. The stops 25 secured on en the inner face of the Aarrow plate, serve to limit the movement of the lever in both directions.

As shown in Fig. 5, a lead wire 31 is grounded at one end on the frame of the 35 vehicfle indicated at 33 and is connected at the other end to one of the terminals of a lightning switch 34, anda battery 350i suitable construction is interposed in the length of the lead wire. A branch wire 36 leads a from this lead wire 31 onthe opposite side Y of the switch 'from the battery through a light 37 which may be the head, side or tail light of the automobile, and is thengrounded on the frame. The wire 31 passes through the lights 11, as shown, for energizing these lights when the switch 34 is Abranch wire closed to close the circuit.

31;L leads from the wire 31 between the lamps 11 and is connected to the spring terminal 50. member 32 with which the lever 19 coperates.v Another wire 38 leads from the lever and is grounded on the frame, as sho wn. A

branch wire 28 leads from the lead wire 31 v between the switch, 34 and the battery 35 andis, in turn, branched to connect with v thecoils 30 .of electro-magnets, switches 26 and 27 being interposed in thev branches, the

said switches being of any usual or desired type and mounted at any suitable point on e0 the automobile, as, for instance, on the steering wheel. From the coils `30 the branches are grounded 0n the frame, as shown.

If a turn is to be made in either direction the proper push button 26 or. 27 is depressed,

et whereby to energize one of the electro-magnets, the magnet attracting the armature 18 to swing the lever 19 upon its pivot, and as the lever swings the lower end thereof will contact with the contact member 32, closing the circuit to the lamps 11., provided that the 70 lighting switch is closed. The movement of the lever 19 will ell'ect a shifting movement of the triangular plates 22 into a position to effect, with the plate 10, the representation of an arrow pointing in thedirection in'75 which the turn is to Vbe made.

When, for instance, the switch. 26 is closed, the current passes from the battery through the wires 31 and 2S, the switch 26 and the winding 30 to ground. The arm 19 is 80 swung, and the lower end thereof contacts with the contact member 32. The current now passes from the battery by way of the wire 3l to the switch 34, if the lighting switch is closed, through the light 37 and g5 by way of the wire 36 to ground. The current also passes through the lights 11. When the switch 34 is open the lights are not lighted.

In the day time the signal will be viewed through the clear glass plate 7 and will nppear as indicated in Fig. 6. At night the signal will be silhouetted against the red -glass platc, as indicated in Fig. 7. Of

course, in the day time the tail light, or the headlights as the case may be, will be turned olf, so that the lamps. will not flash when the signal is actuated. At night', however, upon each actuation of the signal, the lamps in back of the red glass willbe illuminated m0 whereby to bring the signal into relief for vividly attracting the attention of following or approaching pedestrians and drivers,

as the case may be.

Although I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention, l may 'desire to make suchchanges in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts thereof, as do not depart from the spirit of the invention and the scope of lthe appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a signal, a casin having an opening in one side, a clear g ass pane covering the opening, a colored ground glass pane arranged in the casing in spaced relation to the clearglass and defining between them a signal compartment, electric lamps arranged behind the colored glass, a plate in the shape of al1-arrow bodf. arranged in the 120 signal compartment in positionl to be visible through the clear. glass in the day time, and to be visible in relief against the ground glass atl night when the lamps are lighted, triangular plates rotatably mount` ed at the ends of the arrow plate, means for shifting the triangular plates in synchronism, at will, relatively to the arrow plate for producing .the representation of an arrow pointing in one direction or the other, ist

nEl() neonates and means operating in unison with the triangular plates for controlling the circuit in whichthe lamps are included, whereby when the circuit is energized the lamps will be lighted upon movement of the triangular plates into arrow representing position.

2L In a signal, a casing having an opening therein, a base plate arranged in the casing having upturned ends, an arrow plate in the shape of an arrow body arranged in the casing and visible through the opening and having an upright portion secured to the base plate whereby to support the arrow plate, triangular plates rotatably linnountof the latter,

ment with the shaft ed on the arrow plate adjacent the ends a shaft rotatably mounted relatively to the arrow plate, an armature fixed on the shaft, a lever xed for moveand projecting at one end between the triangular plates, a reach rod connecting the lever with the triangular plates for `effecting a movement of the triangular plates in unison when the lever is moved, springs arranged on opposite sides of the lever andgconnected at their outer ends to the upturned portions of the base pla e, and atjtheir inner ends to the lever whereby to hold the latter normally in neutral position, electro-magnets inountn ed on the upturned end portions of the base plate on opposite sides oi the armature, and means for energizing the magnets ,at will.

3. A signal including a base plate, an ar-l row plate mounted on the base plate, said arrow plate being in the form of the body of an arrow, triangular plates rotatably mounted adjacent the ends of the arrow plate, va lever pivotally mounted relatively to the arrow plate and projecting at one end between lthe triangular plates, a rod connecting the lever with the triangular plates for effecting a unity of movement between them when the lever is moved, means for normally retaining the lever in neutral position, an armature connected with the lever for moving the latter whenl the armature is shifted' in one direction or another, and electro-magnets mounted on the base plate ou opposite sides of the armature for effecting movement ot the latter when either of the electro-magnets is energized 'n ing triangular plates rotatably mounted against ,its ends, a ground glass plate arranged beliind the arrowI plate, lamps arranged behind the throwing' the arrow plate into relief against the ground. glass plate at night whenthe lamps i are illuminated, means for operm ating the triangular plates at will for moving them into position representing an arrow pointing in one direction or another, said means including avr-lever, and means cooperating with the leve; incontrolling the circuit in which the lamps are included, whereby when the circuit is energized the lamps will be lighted upon movement oit the lever for shitting the triangular plates into arrow representing positionu 5. A signal including a plate representing the body of an arrow, triangular plates arranged adjacent the ends of the body pitite and being mounted for movement into posi signal including an arrow plate hevground glass plate for tions for cooperating with the body plate in 1 representing an arrow pointing in one direction or another, operating means for causing movements ot the' triangular platesQ in unison to attain positions for representing an arrow, and electrical apparatus for ao tuating said operating meansm y 6. ln a signal, an arrow plate in the form oi the body of an arrow, triangular plates pivotally mounted adjacent the ends of the arrow plate, and means operable at will for moving the triangular plates' into position for coperating with the arrow plate in reproducing an arrow pointing in one direction or another.

7. in a signal, an arrow plate in the forni of the body of an arrow, means at the ends of said plate and pivoted thereto for giving to the said plate the representation et an arrow and mounted to turn in either direction, and means operablefat will for moving the said means into position :tor cooperating with the arrow late in re ro-s ducing an arrow pointing in either direc tion.

FLOYD N. MRE. Witnesses i CHARLES, 'W HARPER, NEWTON lt.' Moores.

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